MSU grad student's article published in foreign affairs magazine

In the interest of public safety, people are often instructed to find shelter where they are until the threat has passed. But Jared McKinney, a second-year graduate student at Missouri State University, has suggested there might be a better way to respond.

His article "Handling the Unstoppable Terror Threat" was recently published in The National Interest, a leading foreign affairs publication.

McKinney, a student in the department of Defense and Strategic Studies, co-wrote the article with Dane Egli, who leads a team that studies resilience at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

The article suggests that instead of automatically placing an area under lockdown when an emergency - such as a terrorist attack - occurs, public leaders should consider the benefits of encouraging citizens to continue going about their daily lives, albeit with a higher level of alertness. Such a response could deny a terrorist his objective: spreading terror.

"I have been immersing myself in the foreign affairs and national security literature, and I am excited to make some positive contributions to it," said McKinney.

He is currently an intern at the laboratory in Laurel, Md., where he spends most of his time working on Egli's team researching aspects of resilience - defined in the article as "the ability to withstand a crisis, absorb damage, recover quickly and adapt to disruptive events."

"Long term, I'd like to work as a foreign-policy adviser, focusing particularly on grand strategy and the rise of China," said McKinney.

The Rumsfeld Foundation recognized McKinney's work by naming him a fellow. The fellowship is awarded each year to a handful of top students at top universities.

"Jared's efforts and accomplishments have brought distinction to himself, to the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies and to MSU," said Keith Payne, department head. "He demonstrates that students from public universities can be more than competitive with the best students from Ivy League schools."

The department's campus is located in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.